PORADA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARD 2022: THE WINNERS
Presenting the winners of the competition promoted by PORADA and POLI.design, under the patronage of ADI
1st PRIZE PROFESSIONAL (€ 3,000): "Ginkgo" by Niccolò Devetag
1st PRIZE STUDENT (€ 2,000): "Xenia" by Benedetta Rocchi
Milan, February 2023 – On Friday 3 February, at Villa del Grumello, Lake Como, the jury of the PORADA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARD 2022 selected the winners of the competition, promoted by Porada, a leading company in the furniture manufacturing field, and POLI.design, a consortium company founded by Politecnico di Milano, under the patronage of ADI, the Association for Industrial Design.
There are six winners – three in the Professional category and three in the Students category – who were able to grasp the spirit of the competition by interpreting the distinctive values and identity of Porada, a major brand in Italian design, and proposing innovative and original projects with the Armchair as their theme.
The total prize money of € 10.000 will therefore be distributed as follows:
For the PROFESSIONALS category:
1st prize: € 3.000: Niccolò Devetag with “Ginkgo”
2nd prize: € 2.000: Niko Kapa with “Stagione”
3rd prize: € 1.000: Federico Degioanni with “Allure”
Honourable mention:
Marco Valerio Agretti with “BOLD”
For the STUDENTS category:
1st prize: € 2.000: Benedetta Rocchi with “Xenia”
2nd prize: €1.200: Michela Brescia, Valerio Cormio, Aurora Piccioni with “Ruga”
3rd prize: € 800: Andrea Somaschini with “Chassis”
Honourable mention:
Alireza Borhani with “DREAM WINGS”
They are all projects of outstanding quality and innovation, which stood out among the 282 applications submitted from all over the world: 143 in the Professionals category and 139 in the Students category. A great number of applicants were Italian, but the international response was equally positive: Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Spain, France, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Russia, Brazil, Japan, China, Ukraine, Germany, Argentina, USA, UK, Thailand and Cuba are just some of the many countries involved.
The winner of the competition for the Professionals category was Niccolò Devetag with “Ginkgo”, an armchair inspired by nature’s shapes and aiming at creating an innovative design in this kind of furniture. Starting from the frame of a wooden armchair, the designer developed a detail that combines aesthetic and functionality. Indeed, the outer shell is shaped after a Gingko leaf, making it possible to support backrests of different heights whilst giving life to different and complementary products in a simple yet reversible way.
The seat is embraced by a solid canaletta walnut frame where the armrest, point of contact with the body, represents the highest expression of the wood’s aesthetic features. The frame, the details of the stitching and the piping of the cushions convey the all-round craftmanship typical of Made in Italy, while the architecture of the product itself allows the combination of different finishes to the upholstery for a high level of customization.
Niccolò Devetag proves himself once again to be a major player in the Porada International Design Award: indeed, this is the third time he has achieved the first place – for the first time as a professional, after two victories as a student.
Benedetta Rocchi, student of Product and Interior Design at Academy of Arts and New Technologies of Rome, won the Students category prize with “Xenia”. From the desire to recreate a sense of coziness and thus warmth, takes form the design of the armchair, a protective shell that evokes the organic shapes of nature.
Xenia’s morphology is linked to the aesthetic of contemporary taste, as is the choice of the bouclè fabric to cover the upholstered parts of the armchair and the more sculptural character of the wooden slats that connect the legs, which show, through the hidden joints and organic shapes, the company’s mastery in woodworking. At the same time, though, its symmetrical shapes, regular lines and chosen finishes are intended to pay homage to Porada’s timeless style, especially targeting lovers of the Italian tradition.
Xenia is not a revolutionary armchair, but it does deliver a few innovative and fresh ideas to the discerning eye. The width and low profile of the seat provide a comfort that is more contemporary and belongs to a new target of clientèle. Another innovation concerns an aesthetic aspect: unlike any other traditional armchair designs, Xenia appears to be floating as it does not rest directly on the wooden slats. With reference to the choice of the wood, the armchair was originally designed to be in canaletta walnut or Canapa stained ash.
The jury was made up of Tiziano Allievi (Porada C.E.O.), Bruno Allievi (Porada Associate and former C.E.O.), Roberto de Paolis (POLI.design), Antonella Andriani (ADI Vice President), Diane Tevoedjre (South African interior designer), Ilaria Crocco (Viasaterna Gallery owner), Staffan Tollgard (Swedish designer), Tristan Lohner (French designer and RBC Group Deputy General Manager), Stephan Julliard (French photographer).
In reviewing the projects, the jury focused on originality, innovation and the pursuit of new design solutions related to the typical processing of solid wood, experimentation with materials and surface finishes, capacity of projects to define and anticipate scenarios of use and innovative concepts in the use of wooden furniture and contemporary furnishing accessories, with particular regard to typological, technological and morphological determinations.
More details on the winning projects are available on the websites:
www.porada.it
www.polidesign.net/
www.porada-design-award.polidesign.net
Porada International Design Award 2022
International Design Competition for Italian and foreign designers and creative professionals. Promoted by PORADA and POLI.design, under the patronage of ADI, the Association for Industrial Design.
Contacts:
Email: award@porada.it
Tel.: [+39]031.766215
POLI.design Press office: Veronica Zancarli
Email: comunicazione@polidesign.net
Tel. [+39] 02.23997226
www.polidesign.net/
Porada Communication Office: Laura Allievi
Email: laura@porada.it
Tel: [+39]031.766215
www.porada.it
